Valve has confirmed that a new update to its Steam platform will allow users to download games quicker and more efficiently than before thanks to all-new server and client code.

"The maximum aggregate bandwidth of the system will be greater than the current system; this will help us satisfy spikes in demand when there's a big release," confirmed Valve in a statement today.

Each user will now download less data. “If an individual file on disk were modified by a game update, your client had to download the whole file,” explains Valve. “That can be painful when the file in question is really large. The new system supports delivering only the differences between the old and new files, meaning game updates will be much smaller overall.”

The arrival of the new system will also be followed by other new features, including download scheduling bandwidth throttling, and the ability to download a game while you’re playing another.